Chance Encounters
by a cup full of sunshine
Summary: The 254 times Drew met May in Johto...and everything that happened in between. CS, semi-fluff, chronological drabble/one-shot collection.
1. Hello, Again

Totally frustrated w/ Fanfiction lately- it won't let me update any of my stories! This idea has been bouncing around in my head in a while, so today, when I really wanted to publish something new, I thought of this and this drabble/oneshot came out. It's a loosely connected drabble-fic series about May and Drew in Johto. It is chronological and no, I'll never make them travel together for an extended period of time- I just don't realistically see that happening...

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Hello Again!<strong>

He was walking out of the Cherrygrove City Pokemon Center, Pokemon all fully healed and ready to go, when he caught sight of something he wasn't supposed to be seeing.

It was a bright, red bandanna with a swirling white pokeball design.

_No…it couldn't be?_

There was only one person in the world he knew who would wear something like that.

Smirking, he walked closer to it until he could see the figure of the girl of whom it belonged to. Short and skinny, caramel brown hair parted straight down the middle, red dress, black tights, red sneakers— it was her alright.

With her back turned towards him, it looked like she was apologizing profusely to a young boy with sandy hair and square glasses who was drenched with water as her Squirtle looked abashedly on.

Typical May…

It was the perfect opportunity.

He tapped her on the shoulder.

"I thought you said you were going to stay in Petalburg City?"

"Drew!" Crystalline blue eyes stared at him with shock. "What are you doing here?"

He raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. "I could be asking the same thing of you. You were the one who told me that you were going to stay at your Dad's gym in a completely different region with your brother for a while, "to figure things out"," he drawled.

She blushed, a pale red color and chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah…I guess that was a stupid question to ask….you just startled me, that's all."

"Hmph, it's expected."

Her face got much redder. "Hey! It's your own fault for scaring me like that! You could've given me some warning you were coming up like that!"

He chuckled. "That would kind of ruin the whole element of surprise thing, May."

"Oh my god, it really is you! Drew, coordinator from LaRousse City!" the boy gushed excitedly. Truth be told, Drew nearly forgot he was there. "I can't believe it's really you— Your combinations are amazing, you really know how to show off your pokemon's natural abilities—Wow, May, you never told me that you knew the Drew!"

"Yeah, well" she laughed, but looked a tad bit uncomfortable, "We're good—"

"—Rivals"

"—Friends, I guess," she smiled. Shocked, he gaped for a minute before hastily regaining his composure. For all the time he had known May, giving advice, participating in contests, a couple of nasty run-in's, he wasn't sure he'd consider them friends. Rivals definitely and maybe something a little bit more, but friends?…

May, thankfully, hadn't noticed his momentarily lapse of focus. "We met up a lot in contests beforehand and a couple of really weird situations, but we won't get into those now," she smiled wistfully at first, then energetically.

She grabbed the boy's arm and then pumped her fist in the air in an uncanny imitation of Ash Ketchum.

"Come on, we have a lot of work to do!"

Hurriedly, though, the boy broke free, grabbed a black notebook from his backpack, and held out a pen towards him.

"Can you sign this please?," he blurted out.

Drew blinked. "Umm…sure…"

He took the pen while May giggled beside him.

"Make it out to Timmy please!"

He wrote out his signature and handed it back to the kid, who gleefully started exclaiming how all his friends would be jealous that he got a signature from a top coordinator.

"So who is this kid anyways?" he whispered to May.

"This is Timmy. He lives here in Cherrygrove City and wants to enter in the Pokemon contest tomorrow. It's his first contest and he was practicing here when his Pidgey accidently tackled into Squirtle's water gun. I've been helping him out since!" she beamed proudly.

He pretended to look shocked.

"You? Teaching him?"

"Hey! I'm a great teacher! And I'm a whole lot nicer than you are too!"

"Hmph…this kid's not going to make it past the appeals round if you're the one mentoring him," he smirked, "Face it May, you're terrible at explaining things, let alone at giving advice— he ignored her indignant splutterings, as amusing as they were-Anyways, I feel bad for the kid with you as his mentor, so I might as well help out some too."

"Hey! Wait…" she looked confused.

"Really, you'll do that for me?" Timmy asked, hope shining bright in his eyes.

He flipped his hair, and flashed a confident, winning smile.

"Don't worry about it."

Inside though, was a much different story.

_What did I just get myself into?_

…

"Now remember, don't forget that Gust has the property of knocking most physical attacks back at the user with twice as much damage and work on your Bellsprout's vine whip to get it faster and more accurate," Drew lectured.

The sun was just starting to set below the horizon, giving an orange tinge to the cerulean blue sky as Timmy and his Pidgey both panted from exhaustion and determination from a full afternoon's worth of practice.

"Give it a break, Drew." May sighed uncompromosingly. "Timmy's exahusted, Pidgey's exahusted, I'm exhausted. I think it's time to call it a day."

"No, No! I wanna practice more!"

"I hate to say it, but May's right." Drew called back his Pokemon. "It'll do you no good if you just wear your Pokemon out today."

"But...What if...I don't do well? What if I embarass myself in front of everybody?" Timmy asked worriedly.

"You're not going to. Look at all this practice you've done." he said bluntly, but with a hint of compassion, as he remembered the first days from when _he_ was a beginning coordinator.

May's eyes softened as she probably reminisced about her early days as well.

"It's fine to be nervous," May gave an encouraging pat on his shoulder, "but you can't be too nervous or else your Pokemon will sense your fear and they'll get scared too. Just trust in yourself and your Pokemon, and you'll do fine, no you'll do amazing!"

"You think so?"

"I know so!"

"Yeah, yeah-You're right!"

Grinning, Timmy turned to both of them. "Thanks for all the help you've given me—I'm going to do super awesome in this contest—I won't let you guys down!"

He started to jog across the street, towards a part of town opposite from the Pokemon center. "My house is this way, I'll see you guys tomorrow—Thanks again, I'm gonna do awesome!"

And with that, he left May and Drew alone, in an increasingly awkward silence.

"Well, I guess I'll be heading back to the Pokemon center now, I'll see you tomorr—"she moved to turn away.

"Wait!" he reached out for her arm, and did not flinch at the electric current he felt when he touched her skin. She shivered, and he let go of her arm. "I'm going in that direction too, I'll walk you there.

"Oo-kay."

So they walked, although May kept looking down at her feet and scuffling, while his expression was blank, completely unreadable.

"You never answered my question you know."

Her head shot up. 'What?"

"Why are you here in Johto?"

"Well, I stayed with Dad, Max, and Mom long enough that I started getting a little restless, and wanted to compete and travel again…"

He frowned. "You didn't go with Ash and Brock, wherever they went? I'm sure they have contests in—"

"Sinnoh, they both decided to go to Sinnoh," she sighed, "but I don't know, I loved travelling with Ash, Brock, and Max, but I want to travel by myself for a while, to be completely independent and discover things about myself and develop my own unique style…and Johto seemed like a good, new place to come to…"

She peeked a quick glance at him, and sighed. "Go ahead, you can laugh at me," she muttered dejectedly, "I know it sounds kind of corny…"

But it didn't sound corny to him. _Well, maybe a little, he thought sardonically. _But still, he couldn't believe that she thought him to be so heartless to laugh at something personal like that. In fact, he understood because it was something that he felt acutely training or in the wild, with nothing but himself, the elements, and his pokemon.

Of course, he didn't tell her that.

"If I was going to laugh, I wouldn't be asking for your permission," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"I-Thanks…"

They walked in silence for a bit.

Then, May piped up. "How long have you been here?"

"Here? As in Cherrygrove City? I've been here since last weekend."

She shook her head, turning each chocolate colored pigtail ninety degrees. "No, how long have you been here in Johto?"

That was surprising. But as usual, he kept his calm. "Why do you want to know?"

She turned a purplish-red sort of color, and he bit the side of his cheek to keep himself from laughing. Was she embarassed? Sometimes, he really didn't understand her.

"I-well-it's not a big deal- I was just trying to keep the conversation going-yeah..."

"You know, you're the worst liar I've ever met, and that's saying something." he quirked his eyebrow, highly amused. "If you want to know how many ribbons I have, you could just ask. I already have one, by the way."

May looked shocked. 'How'd you guess?"

He smirked._ Because it's all we really talk about_. "You're an incredibly predicatable person."

"Oh yeah?" she challenged back. "Then what am I thinking right now?"

He scoffed at her as he flipped his hair. "May, you being easy to read doesn't mean that I can read minds or have ESP. You're probably thinking something like "I'm not predictable" or something about me being annoying and arrogant,"

"Nope!" she said cheerfully, although she looked a tad bit relieved. (if anyone would believe in ESP, it would be her) "I was thinking that waffles were blue, but the last part fits you pretty well, don't cha' think?"

"...You're so strange..."

But honestly, he didn't mind at all.

"Hey, Drew?"

"What?"

"You _are_ entering in the Pokemon Contest tomorrow too, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, May, I'm here to go challenge the nonexistant gym leader."

She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Haha, very funny Drew," she said exasperatedly, but with a smile on her face.

Then with a sudden cry, she exclaimed. "That's right, we'lll be facing Timmy tomorrow too!"

Drew smirked. "Scared of losing to him?"

"No, I just want to see how well he does in his first contest! He's really good, it's obvious that he's been training for this moment for a long time…"

He shrugged his shoulder noncomittantly. "He'll do fine, just won't make it to the finals."

"Hmm? Why not?" she asked, mildly confused.

"Because I'm here."

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. 'Still the same Drew I see…"

"Well, anyways, even if you're entering it or not, I'm going to win my very first Johto contest ribbon tomorrow, and there's nothing you can do about it, mister!" she said as she stuck out her tongue playfully at him.

_Smirk_ "Sorry May, but you're forgetting about the part where you lose to me in the finals,"

"Nuh-uh," she protested, "it's definitely the other way around!"

And it went on that way for the rest of the walk.

Before they even realized it, sunset came, the falling sun sending hues of deep gold and orange and fushcia across the sky like thrown like paint against a canvass. Neon red light ruined this picturesque moment in nature, as Drew realized, looking up at the giant red P and with a hint of disappointment, that they had reached the Pokemon Center.

It seemed like she'd noticed it as well. "Well...Thanks for walking me to the Pokemon Center..." she said shyly, suddenly scuffing the bottom of her sneakers onto the gravel.

He flipped his hair, trying to act like it was no big deal. "It's fine, it was on the way."

"Still though..." May seemed to be at a loss of words. "It was nice of you to do it anyways-I guess there's some hope for you after all," she teased gently, a strange expression settling over her face. Drew could feel a slight heat rushing to his cheeks, despite the growing evening chill, and could only wonder at why. There was something strange, almost magnetic in the air, that was making him feel something he'd never really felt before, and just by looking at her, he knew she felt it too.

"I should probably go now." he said a tad bit loudly.

"Ermm...yeah..." May trailed off lamely.

The gravel crunched loudly at his feet as he walked past the brunette, still conciously aware of the uncomfortable atmosphere around them.

"Hey-Drew! Drew!"she called out to him, hands cupped over her mouth.

He turned around.

A devlish glint reappeared in her eyes as she balanced her hands on her hip. "Just because you were kind of nice to me and Timmy today doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you in the concert though! Get ready to lose tomorrow!" And just like that, the strangeness had gone away, and everything was back to what it used to be.

"Bye, Drew!"

He lifted his hand up in farewell and kept walking.

Surprisingly, he _was_ looking forward to the new day.

* * *

><p>Liked it?<p>

Timmy's a random character that just popped into my brain while writing it, but he'll be in next chapter too.

Feedback on May and Drew?- I want to make their interactions as realistic/ canon as possible.

Next Chapter (if FF will let me put it up...) will be about the Contest.


	2. Cherrygrove City Contest

A quick oneshot before Easter. Actually, it's not that short or quick- it took forever to write and clocked in at about 3,448 words. Ouch. Part of it is because writing contest battles/ appeals takes a long time to do. You know how everything happens split-second in the anime? Well it's a lot harder to do on paper (or computer) ,but I think it turned out okay.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Cherrygrove City Pokemon Contest<strong>

"Welcome everyone," A woman with curly blonde hair in a flowing purple and pink flower kimono and a mike in hand, stood in front of the empty contest stage and posed, so cameras could catch her every move. Her appearance, apart from a small mole by the corner of her left eye, was eerily similar to Vivian or Lilian.

"I'm Jilian, your Master of Ceremonies today and it's my honor and thanks to be the MC to what looks to be a great contest in the making, filled with appeals as graceful as a Bellsprout swaying in the summer breeze and battles as powerful as a Gyarados's rage! Your lovely judges are as follows:"

"The ever venerable, Mr. Contesta"

"It's a pleasure to be here!"

"President of the Pokemon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!"

'Remarkable!"

"And your very own Cherrygrove City Nurse Joy!"

"It's a pleasure to be able to see all the wonderful and well trained Pokemon today!"

The camera switched back to Jillian. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Nurse Joy! And now a few words of wisdom before we get started from the master of Pokemon poetry himself, Professor Oak:

Thrill of Coming Fight

Coursing through itching fingers

Pokeball, Let's GO!"

Cheering erupted and filled the crowded stadium.

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><p>"And now, to get things started off hotter than a Magmar's flamethrower, heeeere's May, from Petalburg City, opening things up with her Squirtle."<p>

May walked onto the stage, ignoring the sweat that was slowly accumulating on her palms. It felt like such a long time since she participated in an actual contest, and now she was doing it completely on her own, without Ash, Brock, or even Max. _Oh my god, Oh my god…_It hurt to look up at the audience, because for the first time, she wouldn't see Max's smug grin after a good combination, Ash's thumbs up, Brock's easy going smile, Pikachu's fan dance….

For a brief moment, she had to wonder:

_What am I doing here?_

But then she thought of yesterday, and Timmy and Drew, and smiled a tiny smile. Maybe she wasn't quite as alone as she thought she was…

She felt sick to her stomach waiting in the reception room in the back, but the minute Jillian had called out her name, the minute she stepped out into those bright lights and heard the chanting of the crowd, her mind went on auto-pilot.

It was almost like she'd never taken a break. She had come to love the adrenaline, the work, the feeling, the sound of a cheering crowd- everything about the contests in these last two years, and looking up now at the stage, crowd, and judges, she could find no difference. Reassuringly, it seemed like wherever she went, contests would always just be good ol'contests, and despite all of her fears and worries, she knew that this was where she belonged, out here on the stage.

She kissed the very top of her Pokeball, and whispered, "_You, ready?"_

"Squirtle! Take the Staaage!"

With a flash of white light, her Squirtle erupted from the Pokeball, simultaneously spinning inside his shell and sending waves of water out into the crowd, before landing nimbly on his tail, waving cutely to the audience.

"Squirtle, Squirt!"

"And what a beautiful entrance by May's Squirtle, an excellent use of both rapid spin and water gun to create a dizzying effect!"

"Okay, Squirtle," May clenched her fist. "Just like we practiced, use Bubble!"

Squirtle nodded once to show that he understood and opened his mouth to let out a stream of foamy bubbles that covered the entire stadium with iridescent little orbs. The light from the contest hall struck the bubbles at different angles, creating a colorful, rainbow effect.

"Now, use Ice Beam and follow it up fast with Aqua Tail!"

This was the real moment in the appeal that May was worried about. If Squirtle couldn't use Aqua Tail fast enough, Ice beam would cause some of those bubbles to crash down on the audience faster than an Onyx dropped off a cliff, and that would **not** be good for them or her…

"Come on, come on…" she muttered frantically.

Squirtle's Ice beam hit all the Bubbles, turning them into little glass ornaments as they began plummeting towards the ground, as May predicted. But Squirtle, highly attuned to May, jumped and used Aqua Tail as quick as a flash and started spinning in midair, sending the spirals of water from his tail out into the stadium, where they burst the falling ice bubbles and gently fell down onto the crowd as sparkling rain.

May flushed with happiness as the rain gently misted her face. "We did it Squirtle!"

"Squirtle, Squirt, Squirt!"

"Speed and beauty combine in a spectacular and quite refreshing display of Bubble, Ice Beam, and Aqua Tail, if I do say so myself—," Jillian exclaimed, "Give a hand for May and Squirtle for starting things off with a crash! But now let's see what the judges say:"

Mr. Contesta: "You perfectly showcased your Squirtle's skill and speed with Aqua Tail! Impeccable timing!"

Mr. Sukizo: "Absolutely Remarkable!"

Nurse Joy smiled kindly as she was handed the microphone. "What a wonderful appeal to start off the day! The Power and speed of your Squirtle was just thrilling to watch!"

"And her score definitely reflects it, a very solid and hard to beat 27.4!" Jillian said, "Congratulations, May!"

And as May and Squirtle both waved out into the crowd, Drew and Timmy watched from screen in the waiting room out back, with Timmy waving his fist up and down enthusiastically while chattering praises left and right to Drew, who was leaning against the wall.

He simply smirked and flipped his hair. _"Looks like you still have it May…"_

* * *

><p>"Butterfree, use Stun Spore, then follow it up with Psybeam"<p>

"Err-Err-Eeee Eeee"

Butterfree flew around the stadium, quickly filling it with clouds of orange-yellow dust that caused its wings to shine and glisten. His antennae glowed with flashing light before unleashing a wave of multi-colored psychic energy that seemed to absorb the Stun Spore, filling the stadium with sparkling rainbow light.

"Oh, would you just look at that rainbow light?" Jillian looked up in awe, and from the screen in the back, May and Timmy were doing the exact same thing. "Psybeam has dispersed Stun Spore in a beautiful and elegant display that's really showing off the luster of Butterfree's wings."

"Wow, it's like Butterfree's the beacon in a lighthouse," May thought in a mix of respect and awe at Butterfree's obvious good training and beautiful display, but also with a twinge of envy and worry. It was moments like these that made her feel like she was still just that rookie compared to Drew, even despite her prodigious progress.

"Now, use Bug Buzz!"

Red sound waves emanated from Butterfree like ripples moving out in a pool, dissipating the rainbow light yet again into smaller, brighter points of light while creating a melancholy and eerie, but undeniably beautiful sound.

Mr. Contesta looked impressed. "What an incredible use of Psybeam and Bug Buzz to show off Butterfree not only visually but audibly as well! Well done!"

"Remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo smiled beatifically.

"The Bug Buzz was just beautiful, like a melody of the forest." Nurse Joy sighed as she closed her eyes, in peaceful bliss.

"And Wow!" Jillian said. "Would you just take a look at that score? 28.5—the highest score of the day!"

"Woooww….He's Amazing," said Timmy, with a star-struck look in his eyes .

May could only nod in agreement.

* * *

><p>"And now if you'll take a look at our screen, we have the top 16 coordinators from the appeals round moving up to the Battle stage!" Jillian pointed to the four-screen TV hanging in the middle of the contest hall.<p>

Drew's picture was the first to come up, followed by May and a couple of portraits later, Timmy's came up.

In the waiting room, with shock and joy in his eyes, Timmy jumped up as if he had been stung by a Wild Beedril_. I made it, I made it!_ Drew made no sign of change and May breathed an internal sigh of relief when she saw her picture. No matter how many times she entered a contest, she was pretty sure that she'd always worry about making it into the next round.

"Contest Matches will be randomly generated by our computer—,

The 16 pictures were suddenly rearranged into 8 different brackets connected with black lines.

-and here they are!"

* * *

><p>She passed through her first round battle easily, beating a girl with curly blue hair up in two pigtails and her Dunsparce.<p>

But now it meant that she would be going against Timmy, and while she didn't think that she was going to have _that_ tough of a time against him, she didn't want to be the person that put an end to his first contest run ever.

"May?"

"Yeah?" She looked up to see Timmy staring at her determinedly, light glinting off his square glasses.

"I just wanna let you know—I'm gonna give this battle my all, so I'm not gonna accept anything less from you just because you helped me yesterday or because it's my first contest."

She smiled, and her resolve hardened. "Good, because I wasn't going to go easy on you anyways!"

Jilian's voice echoed through the stadium. "Good luck, Contestants- the clock starts now!"

"Pidgey, It's your turn now!"

From Timmy's side of the stage, Pidgey erupted from the Pokeball and flew upward with streaking white light behind it, now flapping its wings, waiting in midair.

She ran and jumped, while calling out, "Beautifly, take the staagge!"

Beautifly came out spinning gracefully as sparkles travelled in a trail behind it, to where she flew directly across from Timmy's Pidgey.

May smiled, she was going to make this battle the best it could be for both of them.

"Go, Beautifly, use Silver Wind!"

* * *

><p>"Hmph," Drew smirked. "I told you it was going to be this way."<p>

May was in the finals, along with (surprise, surprise) Drew, after winning her 2nd round battle against Timmy. Timmy's Pidgey had put up a valiant and well-fought fight against Beautifly, causing May to think fast on her feet a couple of times and to be pleasantly shocked, but in the end, he and his Pidgey were no match for her experience and Beautifly's strength and grace.

But it seemed lately to her that in every big milestone of her Coordinating career—her first contest, first Grand Festival, first contest in Johto— it looked like, one way or another, she was going have to face Drew—something she found herself both parts looking forward to and dreading at the same time.

Every time they fought, she always had to wonder "What Pokemon is he going to use?" "What sort of combinations does he have up his sleeve? What is he going to do next? "How do I counter that?"" Fighting him kept her on her toes, and apart from Solidad, he was the best coordinator she had ever fought against….

"Aaarrgghh! Snap out of it, May!" she scolded herself mentally. "You're here to win a contest, not to praise the living daylights out of your rival!"

Because that was what he was, her rival. And never was she more aware of the fact that when they battled together in a contest. Their last battles at the Grand Festival and the practice after briefly ran through her mind, along with other earlier memories of battles with Drew. It was more than just winning a ribbon; it was a matter of pride and upholding her status as a Coordinator against him.

"Just to let you know," she warned him, "I want to start off my journey in Johto with a nice, new, shiny ribbon –and I'm going to get it,".

"Well, you know, there's always a loser in contests too—"Drew seemed to smile, but his expression rapidly changed as did the mood and tension in the air. "—But it's not going to be me."

"Wow! The competition is definitely on, and if you've been watching at all right now, there's only one question that you should be asking: Who's going to take home that coveted Cherrygrove City Ribbon? My guess is as good as yours, but one thing I know for sure is that whichever way it goes, it's going to be a great battle to watch!" Jillian spoke enthusiastically to the crowd, then turned to face May and Drew.

"Contestants, are you ready?"

May and Drew both nodded, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Time starts nooow!"

"Beautifly, take the stage!"

"Come on out Masquerain!"

"_Huh, Masquerain…"_she thought pensively. She already knew that Drew was using his moth pokemon for the battle rounds, having seen it right after her battle with Timmy, and could safely say that it had gotten a lot stronger from when she last saw it in the Grand Festival.

But that was just the way she wanted it. She wanted to prove that it wasn't just a fluke that she beat Drew at Kanto, that it was her and her Pokemon's own skills. And hey, life was more fun with challenges anyways…

Well, that's what Ash had continually told her… And just like that, a wave of homesickness suddenly crashed into her.

_Concentrate May, You can't think about Ash right now. _

"Beautifly, use Silver Wind!"

A stream of blazing silver wind quickly shot past to Masquerain.

'And May gets the battle started with a beautiful Silver Wind—"

"Dodge Masquerain, then use Bubble!"

Masquerain spun quickly , avoiding Beautifly's Silver Wind and causing May's points to drop some before launching a fierce Bubble attack.

"Beautifly, use Gust to blow those bubbles back to Masquerain!"

Beautifly kicked up a strong wind and sent the bubbles back at Masquerain at twice the speed, while Drew's points dropped marginaly, but Drew simply smirked and called out,

"Masquerain, use Ice Beam then Hidden Power!"

Ice Beam hit the bubbles and solidified them, causing them to rapidly drop before Hidden Power activated and suspended them in midair.

"Now send them back at Beautifuly!"

May only realized too late what was going to happen. 'Beautifly, Use Psychic—"

"Beeaut –"

But the bubbles had hit their mark and knocked Beautifly to the ground, taking away a good chunk of May's points, about half, in the process.

"Beautifly! Are you Okay?" May cried out. "That combination though," she whispered to herself, "it's really similar to the one I used in my appeal"—she realized with a gasp, Drew must have copied it from when he saw it earlier from today.

He was definitely playing for keeps today…

"We're reaching the 3 minute mark now, as Drew cleverly used Ice Beam and Hidden Power to unleash an elegant yet destructive combination attack on May's Beautifly!"

"Beaut, Beaut" Beautifly got up and flew off the ground, but was looking a little shaky doing so.

"Don't tell me the break dulled your coordinating skills, May…" Drew smirked. "Come on, finish this off Masquerain, use Ice Beam!"

A bright beam of whitish-blue light hurtled at frightening speed to the unsteady Beautifly.

_If this hits, it'll be all over—But wait… "_Beautifly, use Silver Wind!"

The two attacks met each other head on and created an explosion. Both Pokemon were knocked back from the impact as a cloud of smoke appeared in center stage. Once the smoke had cleared, May could see that strange pieces of what looked like fluff, or snow.

"Perfect," she smiled. "Just what I was hoping for—Now Beautifly, Twirl and use Silver Wind!"

Beautifly spun in a circle, forming two cyclones of silver wind on each side of her wings. However, instead of a uniform silver, they were speckled with blurry flecks of the strange white dust, creating an ice-cream swirl of white and gray.

"What—" Drew looked surprised.

"I don't believe it—out of the remnants of the last attack, May has created a raging blizzard here on the stage!" Jillian gasped in shock.

"Now send if off to Masquerain!" May ordered confidently.

"Masquerain!" Drew yelled, "Use Protect!"

Just as the silver-wind tornado was about to reach its target, a bluish-green shield appeared, stopping the Beautifly's attack in place.

"_If this keeps up, Silver wind isn't going to last and I'll be back to where I started—I just have to keep it going until protect wears off…_May thought desperately.

"Beautifly, use Psychic on the Silver Wind cyclones!"

Beautifly glowed with pink light, and in turn, the dust inside the tornadoes glowed with psychic's power, keeping the winds strong. Strange, May thought, but Psychic almost makes it look like Petal Dance….She could see that the blue-green barrier was beginning to fade away as well.

"Come on Masquerain, hold it out for just a little bit longer!"

But the barrier faded away, and Masquerain was pummeled by the effects of Silver Wind and Psychic, taking down Drew's points to the 40% mark, just underneath May's 45%.

"And that Silver Wind and Psychic Combo put a huge dent in Drew's points, as May makes an upset to take the lead!" Jillian announced, looking at the scoreboard, which read just 2 minutes left in the battle.

"Masquerain! Use Bubble and then follow it up with Shadow Ball!" Drew cried out.

_Masquerain knows shadow ball?, _May panicked.

A torrent of bubbles was unleashed towards Beautifly, but quickly burst into rainbow sparkles as the Shadow Ball moved through them, effectively showing off Masquerain's appeal and attacking at the same time.

May's points dropped.

"Beautifly, use Psychic to send that Shadow Ball up in the air, and then use Morning Sun!"

The shadow ball was too fast and managed to hit Beautifly on the tip of her wing as she tried to raise it up with Psychic. However, she managed to raise it up partway, so when she used Morning Sun to send beams of light onto the stadium, it essentially sliced the shadow ball into nothing.

And Drew's points dropped.

"_Huh, I didn't know Beautifly learned Morning Sun…"_ Drew thought critically.

"Would you look at the time! Both Contestants are practically tied with only 30 seconds left on the clock—This battle has been as explosive as a Selfdestruct, and now we're down to the home stretch, where the moment of truth really happens-so keep your eyes glued onto these two talented young coordinators!" Jillian cried.

Both Pokemon were visibly exhausted, with both Masquerain and Beautifly sagging ever closer to the ground. Precious Seconds were ticking down as May and Drew analyzed their options.

"There's not enough time, I have to end this fast— "Beautifly," May cried out. "Use Tackle!"

"Masquerain, Use Quick Attack and get underneath Beautifly!" Drew ordered.

Beautifly charged towards Masquerain head on, while Masquerain was moving with deadly speed directly underneath.

Just as they were about to collide, Jillian called, "TIME!"

And it was over.

May could hardly tear away her eyes from stage, from Beautifly and Masquerain and Drew. She panted with nervous anticipation as the seconds felt like eternity, but she was scared to look up at the screen, to doubt, to lose, in what had been a see-saw battle from the get-go.

The Screen flashed. "And I don't believe it Ladies and Gentlemen, by a margin by almost less than a point, the winner of the Cherrygrove City Pokemon Contest is May and her Squirtle and Beautifly! Congratulations, and see you next time, folks!" Jillian winked and signed off.

May stood in silence for a split-second. She could see Drew graciously nodding at her before walking away, Jillian shaking her hand gently, the kind looks of the judges as they congratulated her, the collective movement of the crowd—she saw it all.

Then, she ran out to hug her Beautifly and to twirl and dance with her in ecstatic glee on the stage, not bothering to care that everything she was doing was being televised.

She had done it.

She had _won _her _first_ contest in Johto.

Against _Drew_.

* * *

><p>Yeah, so May wins.<p>

Hope you liked her- Jillian will be the MC for Johto. Basically, she's like the Kimono girl version of Vivian and Lilian (which is why I had the poetry part in the begining :)

Feedback on the chapter?- I would especially like to know what you thought of the contest, if it was legit or not.

Next chapter will be up soon~ (Basically it's just their goodbyes)


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